Steve Swell’s Kende Dreams Friday, September 16 | 7:30 PM*At Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Ave, Hartford, Connecticut,www.ahcc.org
The group will play compositions inspired by the music of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. “Kende” refers to the spiritual leaders of tribes in a region that became modern-day Hungary. According to Steve Swell, “It is never too late for we humans to collectively overcome our more negative inclinations, as I believe we are wired to fulfill the destinies of our best selves. That is my Kende Dream.”

Mario Pavone, Street Songs/The Accordion Project Saturday, September 17 | 7:30 PMAt Real Art Ways
A suite of earthy tunes recalls music heard in the ethnically diverse neighborhoods of postwar Waterbury. Bassist/composer/bandleader Mario Pavone has a stellar reputation among fans of avant-garde jazz. His inspiration for these pieces was, “going to the drugstore for my aunts and my mother, hearing the various musics, Italian, Portuguese, Polish. I called it front-stoop music, and much of it was based on the accordion.”

Trio 3 Sunday, September 18 | 3 PMAt Real Art Ways
A group where music is the leader. The unconventional collaboration of internationally-recognized jazz masters, formed to centralize the members’ creative energies and promote a single governing principle: organic improvisation. Everyone is a distinct soloist but it’s definitely an unadulterated group-based effort. Deeply rooted in the tradition, these jazz veterans describe their sound as “futuristic music within the idiomatic continuum of jazz.” Like musical alchemists, Trio 3 boldly carries the music forward spinning 3-dimensional jazz, reconfiguring conventions of compositions, harmony, meter and melody.